Apparatus for amusement and other purposes



- Dec. 15, 1931. A. GUEYDAN 1,836,115

APPARATUS FOR AMUSEMENT AND OTHER PURPOSES File d Sept. 20, 1928 Q :1 8 O I I /o c 2 f 1 3 a: 3

Patented Dec. 15, 1931 a r UNITED T S ARTHUR GUEXDAN, or. EcHANnEN's, swIrzE'RLAnn APPARATUS-FOR AMUSEMENT, Ann ornna-runrosns Application filed September 20,1928. SerialNo.

The present invention consists in a device. which will allow the progressivemovement' of articles along tracks of any desired form, said device being more particularly applica I ble in toys and race-games.

The device is mainly characterized by the fact that it has a supporting surface to which a short reciprocating movement is communicated, thetwo strokes of this movement being of unequal speed, so tha-tanarticle set upon said surface will not move withfthe surface during its faster stroke. Whenhowever its coeificient of adherence is sufficient, the article will share the movement of its support 1 during its slower stroke. The articleis thus moved with respect to the supporting surface in the direction of the initial slow stroke;

Means are provided for repeating said reciprocating movement, to impart a progressive. movement to the article. Such'means can preferably be a spring, and a rotary toothedwheel, the teeth of which act upon 'anabut-- ment connected with the supporting surface such means can however be of otherjconstruction and controlled by hand, clockwork or other mechanical system such as anaemic. motor. i

In the form of embodiment applicable to; race games, the supporting surface'willpi'e sent obstacles and the movable articlesfor figures will be provided with aparticular rocking base formed by two curvilinear blades which will prevent their deviation and automatically redress them in the direc tion of the run, when being turned aside by" said obstacles. Themovable article may be a reduced reproduction of a racing horse, 'a motor car, aboat or other object represent-; ing an article capable of an appreciable speed. 1

In another form of embodiment the fig ures will run upon a track composed of sections forming a closed circuit.

The movable article can present a contacting surface such as to" prevent-its return movement and be provided with nonreturn features, such .as plush'or panne velvet,"to secure'its position upon thefsuppo'rting surface when'saidsurfacewill be inclined or; 59 undulated. 1'

307,2}14; andiiifswitaerland December 12,1927. I i l The'invention" will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which different examples of embodiment a' re' illustrated. I a

' Fig. 'l' 'shows in lateral elevation a device in the form of a "straight race game; i Fig; 2 is a plan view of said devicef Fig. 3 is an end elevation,

- Fig.4 is a partial viewof the supporting surface having 1 raised obstacles Fig. 5 is aside elevation of Fig. 4';

Fig. 6 is a plan viewof the embodiment in which the article will move overacomposite track forming a'closed circuit; I H Fig. 7 an elevation of the devic'e' of 'Fig. 8 is aside elevation of a particular construction of themoving article; Fig. 9 is'an end view'thereof; l Figg10 illustrates in 'section'a partof an, nndulat'ed supporting surface, andjhow a moving 'article 'will be supported'there'on. Figi .11 "illustrates a section" o fjan undulated supporting surface providedwith non return features. I a L a I In the'device illustratedlin'Figs. '1 to'3, 1 is a rigid boardsupporting the movable surface 2 formingtlie racetrack. This'movable planeis coupled-[to theboard'by means of a spring 3' fixed atv the end 45; atthe' {opposite end the movable plane'is connectedaxially by means of a shank 5 withthelever 6,0118 end of which'is mount ed pivotally uponaxis 7; the other forms an'abutment 8. Saidabut-' ment will be acted upon by the teeth 9,"9, of a" toothed wheel 10', wh ich is driven by thecran'k 11, saidwheel being mounted uponthefbase plate '1 in suitable'bearings foritsshaftr [12; and 12 are the figures progressing u on the surface2... 7 r I a The boardcan be made of any solid mate rial, such as wood, or cardboard, and the mov able plane can be made offabric, cardboard, V tin'or other similar material. Thespring 3. can beformedlof a piece of'r'ubberr' The' toothed wheellO and the lever 6 can'bema'de' of metal, fibre or other'materialf The dis tance between 'theteeth'o'f' the wheel will preferably. be of reduced size so that the 'vi 10.0

The obstacles can be placed on the tracksurface as illustrated in Figs. 4 and the Fig. 5 shows how the movable articles come 1 against or across said obstacles.

In the form of embodiment illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 the base of the device isformed with a rigid and plane board 1 upon which are two rectilinear tracks 2' and 2", which are connected endwise with two semi-circular tracks 3 and 3", mounted pivotally upon axis 4:. These difierent tracks will constitute a closed circuit and a reciprocating movement'of unequal speed for each stroke is imparted thereto by means of a lever 5 pivotally mounted upon a shaft 6 in the centre of the circuit. 'The leveriis provided in view of acting upon the trackparts With pins 7 and 7 which form pivots engaging holes in the track-parts 2 and 2"; one end of the' lever 5 is connected' to the base plate 1 by means of the elastic connection or spring 8( and the other end of said lever is in engagement with the pinion 9 which can be rotated by means of the crank 10. l v

When driving the crank 10' in the direction of the arrow, the end of the lever 5 is.

alternately shiftedand released, so as to communicate a reciprocating movement to the tracks 2 and 2 which in turn will communicate areciprocating movement to the trackparts 8 and 3'1, the latter beingconnected to the former by means of the vpins 11"-and 11".

Upon straight-race tracks, and upon those having acurved course,'articles can be moved such as illustrated in F igs. 8 and9, which represent a horseman 8. Said articles are provided with a particular rocking base formed with a double arched blade, for instance of celluloid, saidblades being bent outward as illustrated in Fig.9, .Said base, the two to maintain its normal position.

points of which contacting'the track tend-to remainv on a line atv right angles to the direction of the track motion, will allow the article A race-game. comprising thedevice of the present invention will allow the imitation of any form of'race-coursean-d the racing figures starting simultaneously on the track will run in such a manner as to produce the illusion of real1ty-,'pass1ng over obstacles,los1ng or ga1n-' ing ground and arriving at the winning post. in an unforseen order. n

The device can find its application in various kinds of race-games. The track can'for instance represent the-sea surface "and-will be in that case provided with an uneven sur .face'in the form of undulations such as shown. in section-in Fig. 10. In such device the movingartiole may represent a sailing boat, forinstance,xand will be provided, on its contacting surface with the track,with rough speeds.

inclined backwards to prevent the return movement or slipping of the article when ascending the wave-formed undulations.

The supporting surface itself can present nonreturn features and be coated with plush or velvet cloth fastened to it; in that case the movable articles can present a smooth contacting surface, as shownin Fig. 11. It will be seen thatwhen plush or the like is used, the direction in which the racing figures will move merely depends on the direction in which the hairs of the plush are inclined, and

"regardless of-whether the two strokes of reciprocating motion are of equal or unequal Whilesome preferred forms-of embodiment have been described, it is to be understood that changes, and modifications within the scope of theappended claims may be resorted to whenever it isdeemed desirable.

1". A device for making articles travel independently over a supporting surface, com-v prising rigid. base plate, two movable rectilinear trac apart the one from the other, two, semi-circular track-parts pivotally mounted upon the base plate and pivotally connected with the rectilinear. track-parts so as to form a.

closed circuit, and means 'to impart a re peated reciprocating movement to the trackparts, substantially as described. a

2. .Apparatus formakingarticles travel on" an independent supporting surface, com-prise ing: a rigid base plate, a plurality of movable rectilinear track parts, a plurality .of

curvilinear track parts pivotally mounted upon the base plate and pivotally connected with the movable rectilinear ;track parts, so as to form a curved course, and means to imparta rectilinear reciprocating movement simultaneously to all of saidrectilinear track ture, a resilient means pulling the track in one direction, a rotatable toothed wheel-cooperating with a lever. adapted to pull the track intermittently in the opposite direction, said means being fixed under the tracks and a series of racing figures provided each with a convex rocking base wherebythe figures will follow automaticallythe bent line of the track without deviation; I

4. 111 an amusement apparatus of the character described, the combination of' a track surface with undulations constituting obstacles, means to impart a reciprocating motion. to thetrack', and objects, to be ;moved thereon provided with a base coated.with

-parts disposed at some distance pilose material the hairs of which contacting the track are bent ina same backward direction thereby permitting the moving object to ascend the rising side of the undulations.

5. In an amusement apparatus of the character described, the combination of a track having its face coated with pilose material the hairs of which are bent in a direction substantially parallel to the tracks line, means 1 1 to reciprocate said track and objects to be moved freely upon same provided with a convex blade whereby they will automatically travel in the direction of the course.

6. In amusement apparatus ofthe character described, the combination of a track forming a curved race-course, means adapted to impart a reciprocating motion to the track, and objects to be moved upon the track, said objects being provided with a rocking base permitting the obj ects to travel automatically in a direction parallel to the track line.

7. In an amusement apparatus of the character described, the combination of a track having obstacles on its face, means adapted to reciprocate said track, and a series offigures to be moved freely thereon comprising each a curved rocking base whereby they automatically maintain a correct position.

8. In an amusement apparatus, the combination of a reciprocable track and series of figures provided each with a base coated with plush or the like material having hairs bent in a backward direction.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ARTHUR GUEYDAN. 

